Wire-cutter.



No. 682,033. Patented Sept. 3, |90I.

. w. CLATWDRTHY.

WIRE CUTTER.

(Application led Aug. 25, 1900.)

WIT/(5853 i er A7TOHNEYS IVILLIAM CLATWORTI-IY, OF VARRINGTON, ENGLAND.

WIRE-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 682,033, dated September 3, 1901.

Application led August 25, 1900. Serial No. 28,033. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t may con/cern:

Beit known that LWILLIAM GLATWORTHY, a subject of the Queen of England, and a resident of Warrington, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VVire-Cutters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has mainly for its object to provide a wire-cutter for cutting barbed wire and other Wires or the like which shall enable the cutting to be accomplished with comparatively little force, and to provide a tool of light, compact, strong, and powerful construction and form, and, further, to provide such a tool whereby the right part of the tool-namely, the cutting edges-is applied to the wire, and the wires can be cut in the dark or when the wires are out of sight, as when under water or otherwise obscured, without having to handle or iind the wire by the hand or without the necessity of using both hands.

The invention will be described with the aid of the accompanying drawings, which illustrate it.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the cutter. Fig. 2 is a plan of it, and Fig. 3 a cross-section taken 'at A A, Fig.. l.

The cutter comprises two levers a b, of which d would be the lower one when held in the hand under normal conditions and b the upper one. These two levers are jointed together at one end, so as to be capable of being moved in relation to each other about the joint, and this joint would constitute the fulcrum for the two levers. In the drawings 'this joint consists of a pin c, passed through the head portion of both levers.`

At the outer` end of the lever a beyond the fulcrum c there is a head-block d, having a beak CZ extending down below the lower surface of the lever a and inward-that is, in a direction toward the handle ends of these levers,which are grasped and held by the userand the upper inner surface of this beak d is preferably tapered upward from either side toward the middle, so that its face is in the form of an angular ridge. The head-block CZ and its beak will be made of suitable toolsteel or other hard metal, while the body of the lever a may be made of wrought-iron or steel or other metal. In the construction shown the lower lever ct is of channel construction, being inade out of a plate bent up into the section, and at thefront or cutting end the sides of this bent plate project for ward as cheeks a', while the bottom is cut away and terminates at d2, which forms a guide to the cut-ter, as hereinafter described. Between the two cheeks a the head-block (l is secured by rivets, as d3 or other suitable means.

The lever b carries at its head the blade e, and the head c of this blade, which is connected to and acted upon by the lever h in action, is so disposed in relation to the fulcrum c-namely, in the relative position shown in the drawings-that the amount of its movement away from the fulcrum c and toward the face d2 of the beak d relatively to the amount of movement of the handle parts of the levers b and a toward each other in the cutting act-ion is very small, and consequently the power or leverage is great.

The connection between the blade e and the lever b is effected by making the head c for a greater portion of its periphery of cylindrical form and providing a corresponding gap in the head of the lever b, in which the head c ts. When these parts are together in place, it is plain the sides of the lever a keep the head c in place in the lever. The blade c works in a gap or way between the end at? of the metal forming the bottom of the lever a and the inside surface of the metal of the head-block d opposite the end d2. These two surfaces or parts constitute the guides for the blade and guide it in its movement to and from the edge d2 of the beak d. When the tool is out of action and is being carried about, the lever b is pressed down into the position vshown in full lines in the drawings and is held there by the ring f, which is fastened in the lever a and iits over the tip of lever b. The handle end of the lever a. is eX- tended and bent around into the form of a hook a3, and this serves to hang the tool in a belt or other holder and also serves as a protection to the hand.

The lever b is normally pressed outward into the position shown in dotted lines by a spring h, held at its base in the trough of the lever a by a pin or rivet 7L', its free end acting IOO upon the under side of the lever b near its head. The base of the spring h is continued up vertically behind the pin h at t' and constituting a stop to limitthe movement of the lever b downward, so that when lever b comes onto the stop t' the cutting edge of the blade e will have nearly reached the face d2 or j ust reached it. This prevents the edge of the shear or blade being blunted.

In action to engage the wire to be cut and get it in the required position in the toolnamely, between the blade e and the face cl2-the tool-head is Virst passed beyond the wire, then dropped down at its head, and then drawn toward the user. The effect is that by the forwardly-inclined edge of the beak d' the tool will be brought to lie in the position in relation to the wire requirednamely, with the wire under the blade e. Thus the getting of the tool into the required position and engaged with the wire can be done without handling the wire at all, and this adjustment, therefore, is to a large degree automatic, and it thereby enables the user to cut wires in the dark or when out of sight very easily, and consequently when in the dark, or when wires are under water or out of sight, by the user moving the tool downward the wire will be touched if within the sweep of his arm, and then when a wire is so touched by drawing the cutter backward the beak d will engage with the wire, and so cause the tool to be moved so that the wire will lie in the inner angle of the headblock d and its beak d" under the blade e. Also the hand or fingers of the user will be protected against being scratched or hurt by barbs or the like by the hook as, and this hook as also prevents the tool being pulled out of the hand of the user and enables it to be readily slipped and suspended in a belt or holder.

The object and effect of having the blade e and also the spring h detachable in the manner described is to enable them to be readily removed and renewed in case of their becoming broken or defective.

What is claimed in respect of the hereindescribed invention isl. A wire-cutter comprising a lever ct, having a beak d, with a wire-bearing face cl2 in theinner side of the beak, and a blade e, the

edge at one end of which is adapted to operate in connection with the face d2, and its other end is loosely connected with a lever b, fulcrumed at the joint c to the lever a at a point outside the said loose connection, and on the handle side of the right line passing through the fulcrum-ax'is and the cutterpoint, and adapted to be reciprocated thereby up to and away from the wire-bearing face d2, when the handles of the levers d and b, are pressed together and moved apart, respectively; substantially as described.

2. A wire-cutter comprising two levers a Z2 connected together by the fuicrum-joint c, a beak d on the lever a extending below and having its face d2 for supporting the wire facing toward the lever a, a separate blade e disposed within and adapted to work in an aperture serving as a guide in the lever a, having a cutting edge at one end disposed outside the lever d, and at the other end a head loosely connected with the lever b at a point between the parallel planes passing through the axis of the fulcruln c and cutting edge of the tool, whereby said tool is reciprocated in its guide bodily up to and away from the said bearing or cutting face; substantially as set forth.

3. A wire-cutter having two levers connected together at their head by a fulcrum c, a head-block having an inclined beak d', with a bearing-face to support the wire on its inner inclined face d2, a blade e connected at one end with the head of the lever Z7 at a point outside the fulcrum c, and between said fulcrum and the point of the bearing-face d2 on which the wire is cut, and on the handle side of said levers on the line passing through the fulcrum-axis, and the said point on which the wire is cut, whereby the angle between the lines passing from the said joint and the fulcrum, and the said joint and the cutting edgeof the cutting-tool, becomes more obtuse as the levers a and b of the tool are pressed toward each other, and as the tool passes into the wire; substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

WM. CLATWORTHY.

Witnesses: Y

ETHEL C. SMITH, ELLEN Houd-H.' 

